Exploding Kittens

If you’re reading this first line in the story, trying to figure out what an exploding kitten is, then my title did its work. Titles of stories should catch the readers’ attention, drawing them in, and getting them to read on. Mission accomplished! But this is not some cheap trick. Exploding kittens do exist in this world and are celebrating being ten years old. 

Last weekend, kittens were exploding all over our kitchen table making an awful mess. Food spilled, chairs spun out of control, and cards were thrown up into the air. And then, to make everything worse, along came a bunch of those most prized, hairy potatoes! Those guys really know how to disrupt a scene. Guess it’s time for me to explain what’s really going on with this column before I lose you all.

It is rare, if ever, that I name a business or product in this column. Some may think it’s because I’m just being silly, don’t want to get folks mad, or don’t want to get sued, but it’s much simpler than any of those. I don’t name products or places of business because it’s just how I write. So, for me to do so, well, there’s gotta be a special reason. And what better reason than one of the funniest family nights we’ve had in years. And it was all because of a little card game that just celebrated its tenth anniversary. Dear Reader, let me introduce you to Exploding Kittens.

In this card game, every player starts with seven cards. They play a card then draw a replacement from the deck left on the table. The object of the game is a simple one – don’t draw an exploding kitten card or you’ll blow up. (There are only four of these, so it would seem an easy task to avoid them, but it’s not.) If, by some unlucky chance, you do draw an exploding kitten, then you are out of the game – unless, of course, you are holding a defuse card – the card that will save you and defuse the exploding kitten. (There are only four of these also.) Unfortunately, there are many more things to worry about in this entertaining after dinner card game…like double attack cards.

If the player before you plays a double attack card, then you must take two turns. Two turns for other card games are great, but not for this one. In this game, two turns mean twice the chance of drawing an exploding kitten from the deck. That’s not all. Additional cards in the deck make this game uniquely fun and challenging: some make the players give up a card of their choice, others allow you to choose any card from any player, and still others allow you to “see into the future” by taking a sneak peek at the top three cards left in the draw deck. 

But the most prized cards of all? The four hairy potato cards. Why they are so valuable at our house has nothing to do with the card game. Confused? I was too the first time we played the game, a game I may someday forget, but not the show I witnessed. 

Around the table sat The Wife, our granddaughter Sweet Caroline, and Yours Truly. The seven cards were dealt, and we looked at our hands. Then the show started. Sweet Caroline showed us one of her cards shouting excitedly, “It’s a hairy potato card!” From then on it was no longer the Exploding Kitten game; instead it was the Hairy Potato game. 

Why she was, and still is, so tickled about hairy potato cards we have no idea. (I think the unicorn seeing into the future is the coolest.) But as the evening got longer, she got more animated, dancing round the room whenever she drew a potato card, and almost crying when one was stolen from her. And no, I don’t regret doing that the first time…or the second. All’s fair in love, war, and the Exploding Kittens card game. 

So, to end this story the way we started: exploding kittens do exist, and it’s one of the funniest evenings you and the family will have around the kitchen table. Oh, I almost forgot. If you get all four Hairy Potato cards, you automatically win. That’s not a true game rule. That’s a Sweet Caroline rule, and I’m not gonna object to it. Don’t wanna get her upset. She’s still not over me stealing her potato cards.